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STAMFORD -- Jesse Lee Dinius, 27, of 39 Oak St., Stamford, the hapless bank robber and Fairfield University graduate originally from a wealthy Boston suburb, pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbing a bank last October and trying to rob another one the following month.

Dinius pleaded guilty at state Superior Court in Stamford to second-degree robbery and attempted second-degree robbery and, in exchange, he accepted an eight-year prison sentence, followed by five years of probation. At the time of the robberies, Dinius told police he needed money because he had been laid off a few months before and was scrounging to pay for groceries and bills.

His attorney, Joseph Colarusso, said Dinius, who had worked in the advertising industry before being laid off, is remorseful and ashamed for his family and friends.

"It's a just resolution to the case," Colarusso said. "It's very sad that a young man with such promise got himself in this situation in a desperate time and resorted to some very uncharacteristic behavior."

Authorities say Dinius tried to rob at least three banks in fall 2009, succeeding only once. His first attempt foreshadowed a short-lived and inauspicious stint as a bank robber.

In September 2009, police said Dinius walked into a bank on Glenbrook Road with his roommate's BB gun. According to a voluntary statement Dinius gave to police after his arrest, he decided he did not want to rob the bank. Before he left, however, the gun fell from his pants and onto the ground. Police said he apologized and fled the bank.

A month later, Dinius followed through. He robbed a Hope Street bank in October 2009, stealing $2,850 and using the money to pay bills, he said in a voluntary statement after his arrest.

After that robbery, surveillance camera images of Dinius were given to local banks. In November, employees at KeyBank on Bedford Street told police Dinius had visited the branch and asked about job opportunities, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The next day, the Stamford Police Department sent officers to stake out the bank, thinking Dinius was casing the branch for a possible robbery. Investigators spotted Dinius outside the bank and arrested him, finding him with a demand note and plastic bag that was fashioned into a mask.

Charges in the September robbery attempt were dropped as part of Dinius' plea deal, as well as identity theft charges from 2007.